Chronological Overview of English Literature

By mapimoor
  • Period: 450 to 1066

    Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period

    Had oral literature, and a lot of the prose was translations.
  • Juliana (poem)
    980

    Juliana (poem)

    Author: Cynewulf
  • Period: 1066 to 1500

    Middle English Period

    Much of the writings were religious in nature; however, from about 1350 onward, secular literature began to rise
  • The Canterbury Tales (written in verse, although some are in prose)
    1390

    The Canterbury Tales (written in verse, although some are in prose)

    Author: Geoffrey Chaucer
  • Period: 1500 to

    The Renaissance

    This period is often subdivided into four parts, including the Elizabethan Age, the Jacobean Age, the Caroline Age, and the Commonwealth Period.
  • Period: 1558 to

    The Elizabethan Age

    The golden age of English drama
  • The Passionate Shephered to his Love (poem)

    The Passionate Shephered to his Love (poem)

    Author: Christopher Marlowe
  • Period: to

    The Jacobean Age

    Named for the reign of James I
  • Hamlet

    Hamlet

    Author: Wiliam Shakespeare
  • Period: to

    The Caroline Age

    Covers the reign of Charles I (“Carolus”)
  • L'Allegro e Il Penseroso

    L'Allegro e Il Penseroso

    Author: John Milton
  • Period: to

    The Commonwealth Period

    So named for the period between the end of the English Civil War and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy
  • Leviathan

    Leviathan

    Author: Thomas Hobbes
  • Period: to

    The Neoclassical Period

    Subdivided into ages, including The Restoration, The Augustan Age, and The Age of Sensibility.
  • Period: to

    The Restoration

    Sees some response to the puritanical age, especially in the theater.
  • The Mourning Muse of Alexis

    The Mourning Muse of Alexis

    Author: William Congreve
  • Period: to

    The Augustan Age

  • The Rape of the Lock (Satiric poem)

    The Rape of the Lock (Satiric poem)

    Author: Alexander Pope
  • Period: to

    The Age of Sensibility

    Ideas such as neoclassicism, a critical and literary mode, and the Enlightenment, a particular worldview shared by many intellectuals, were championed during this age.
  • A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

    A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

    Author: Edmund Burke
  • Period: to

    The Romantic Period

    American literature has its own Romantic period, but typically when one speaks of Romanticism, one is referring to this great and diverse age of British literature, perhaps the most popular and well-known of all literary ages.
  • Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems

    Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems

    Author: William Wordsworth
  • Period: to

    The Victorian Period

    This period is named for the reign of Queen Victoria, who ascended to the throne in 1837, and it lasts until her death in 1901.
  • The Seraphim and Other Poems

    The Seraphim and Other Poems

    Elizabeth Barrett
  • Period: to

    The Edwardian Period

    This period is named for King Edward VII and covers the period between Victoria’s death and the outbreak of World War I.
  • Nostromo (novel)

    Nostromo (novel)

    Author: Joseph Conrad
  • Period: to

    The Georgian Period

    The themes and subject matter tended to be rural or pastoral in nature, treated delicately and traditionally rather than with passion or with experimentation.
  • The Bull

    The Bull

    Author: Ralph Hodgson
  • Period: to

    The Modern Period (1914 - ?)

    Common features include bold experimentation with subject matter, style, and form, encompassing narrative, verse, and drama.
  • Ulysses (novel)

    Ulysses (novel)

    Author: James Joyce
  • Period: to

    The Postmodern Period (1945 - ?)

    The postmodern period begins about the time that World War II ended.
  • En attendant Godot

    En attendant Godot

    Author: Samuel Beckett